La Tribune qui cite le « Wall Street Journal » rapporte que le directeur général de Morgan Stanley, James Gorman, souhaite réduire la masse salariale de la banque américaine, qui a atteint en 2009 un « record » par rapport à son activité. Les rémunérations représentent 62 % du produit net bancaire, note le quotidien.
La société américaine de hedge funds Och-Ziff Capital a enregistré des souscriptions nettes de plus de 650 millions de dollars ces six dernières semaines, un montant qui dépasse facilement celui des flux engrangés par le gestionnaire sur le second semestre 2009, rapporte le Financial Times, citant des documents règlementaires. Ses encours se montent à environ 24 milliards de dollars. Cette collecte est l’un des premiers signes concrets du changement d’attitude des investisseurs à l’égard de la société et du secteur de la gestion alternative, estime le FT.
BNY Mellon Asset Servicing a été sélectionné par le néerlandais Goudse Insurance Group comme conservateur pour 2,7 milliards d’euros d’actifs. Outre la conservation, l’américain fournira une série de prestations dont la mesure de performance et la comptabilité des investissements.
Selon les premières estimations de Finles/IEX, les hedge funds néerlandais ont affiché un résultat «prudemment positif» pour janvier. Le EV Smaller Companies Funds a affiché une performance de 2,6 %, le Bloemendaal gagnant 1,76 % et l’Antaurus affichant une progression de 0,15 %.Sur l’ensemble de l’an dernier, le Finles/IEX Hollandse Hedgefund Index a affiché un rendement de 10,6 % le meilleur produit étant le HIQ Invest Market Neutral Fund (+ 43,1 %), l’Antaurus Europe Fund (+ 39,9 %) et l’IdB Real Estate Fund (+ 37 %).
Selon Investment Week, Christopher Morrell, le gérant du fonds JPMorgan Emerging Markets Alpha Plus, va quitter le groupe. Il sera remplacé par Ashraf el Ansary.
Le Labour Pension Fund (LFP), l’un des plus gros fonds de pension de Taiwan qui a réussi à préserver ses encours pendant la crise (plus de 30 milliards de dollars américains), est à la recherche d’un consultant pour déterminer sa nouvelle politique d’investissement. Une annonce qui a surpris la communauté financière locale dans la mesure où l’exercice a déjà été réalisé par un poids lourd du conseil, Mercer, qui a toutefois présenté son plan d’allocation à long terme en mars 2009 après huit mois de recherches.Selon le LFP, ces travaux sont dépassés et l’exercice doit être reconduit par un autre consultant.Le LFP devrait prochainement publier ses performances pour 2009. A fin novembre, le pool d’actifs dénommé «the Old System» à savoir les actifs à prestations définies qui totalisaient quelque 15,6 milliards de dollars à fin 2009, affichait une position cash de 42,27%, dont 5% en papier commercial, et près de 12% en obligations locales. Le «New System», à savoir les actions à contributions définies, détenait près de 32% en cash et près de 13% en obligations locales.En 2008, le New System affichait une performance de 11,84%, l’ancien système une performance de 13,40%.
Selon l’Agefi suisse, la société fiduciaire Experta se met à nouveau à son propre compte. L’équipe dirigeante actuelle d’Experta (Alexandre C. von Heeren, Thomas Baranzelli, Markus Vock), renforcée par Christoph Rumpf, acquiert cette unité des mains de Dexia Banque Privée (Suisse). Les quatre partenaires auront des participations égales à la société indépendante. D’ici au mois de mai, l’entreprise changera également de nom et deviendra Mandaris, une société déjà inscrite au registre du commerce depuis la fin de l’année dernière. La société offre notamment des services de planification financière et de family office.
NYSE Euronext has annou0nced that it has admitted three ComStage branded ETFs from the Luxembourg-registered company Commerz Derivatives Funds Solutions S.A., an affiliate of Commerzbank, to trading. The funds are the ComStage ETF CAC 40 (LU0419740799), which charges fees of 0.20%; the ComStage ETF CAC 40® Short TR (LU0419740955), which carries a management commission of 0.35%, and the ComStage ETF CAC 40® Leverage (LU0419741094), which charges 0.30%. The ComStage ETF products are sub-funds of Luxembourg-registered and UCITS compliant funds. NYSE Euronext now offers 469 ETFs from 16 providers covering more than 300 indices on the European market.
According to Investment Week, JPMorgan Emerging Markets Alpha Plus fund manager Christopher Morrell is set to leave the group. He will be replaced by Ashraf el Ansary.
BNY Mellon Asset Servicing has been selected by the Dutch firm Goudse Insurance Group as custodian for EUR2.7bn in assets. In addition to custody, the US firm will provide a range of services including performance measurement and investment accounting.
On Friday, millions of Americans will for the first time own a piece of Warren Buffett, says the Wall Street Journal. Mr. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway joins the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. More than USD1 trillion of investor money directly tracks the index.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are pursuing criminal tax-fraud cases against Bernard Madoff’s brother and sons, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the Wall Street Journal. His brother, Peter Madoff, was the chief compliance officer of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. Sons Mark and Andrew Madoff helped run the firm’s market-making division.
According to initial estimates from Finles/IEX, Dutch hedge funds have posted “cautiously positive” results for January. The EV Smaller Companies Funds has posted 2.6% returns, while the Bloemendaal gained 1.76%, and the Antaurus fund gained 0.15%. For 2009 overall, the Finles/IEX Hollandse Hedgefund Index posted returns of 10.6%; the best performer was the HIQ Invest Market Neutral Fund (+43.1%), the Antaurus Europe Fund (+39.9%), and the IdB Real Estate Fund (+37%).
In fourth quarter, asset management activities at Prudential Financial posted an operating loss of USD6m, compared with USD69m in the corresponding period of 2008, while operating profits for 2009 as a whole fell to USD55m from USD232m the previous year. As of 31 December, assets totalled USD667bn, compared with USD558bn twelve months previously.
On Wednesday, Morgan Stanley announced that its infrastructure specialist affiliate, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, has acquired a 40% stake, with 50% voting rights, in Southern Star Central Corp, the parent company of Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline (Southern Star), a business that operates an interstate natural gas pipeline and storage facilities in the Midwestern United States.
In January, funds on sale in Sweden had net inflows of SEK9.7bn, or nearly EUR1bn, according to the most recent statistics from the Swedish investment fund association (Fondbolagens Förening). Most of these inflows went to equities funds, which received SEK7.1bn in subscriptions. The most popular categories were Eastern European equities funds (SEK3.2bn) and global equities (SEK1.3bn). In total, as of the end of January, Swedish funds had total assets of SEK1.692trn (nearly EUR170bn), of which nearly SEK1trn is in equities funds.
Och-Ziff Capital, the US hedge fund manager, has received more than USD650m in new client money over the past six weeks, according to regulatory filings – surpassing the net amount received by the group over the last six months of 2009 combined. The fund manager currently oversees assets of just over USD24bn The inflows are one of the first concrete signals of a genuine turnround in investor sentiment for the group and the hedge fund industry at large, says the Financial Times.
Les Echos reports, citing the website Wanquare, that Groupama may opt for a stock market Ipo before making an acquisition. The Wanquare website yesterday published reports, later confirmed by Reuters, that “Groupama may possibly make its stock market debut ahead of a possible acquisition, in order to seize opportunities that are presenting themselves.” The insurance firm has declined to comment on the reports.
Avenir Finance announced on Monday, 11 February that in the 2009 fiscal year it made earnings of EUR27.6m, a slight increase over 2008. In detail, asset management and distribution rose strongly, by 37% and 15%, respectively. The asset management firm attributes the good results in asset management to the success of mutual funds managed by Avenir Finance Investment Managers (particularly the Absolute Return AFIM OFP range), whose assets have increased 76%. In addition to this, the firm reports good results in distribution, with growth for the sales force and major accounts. The Avenir Finance group is planning to focus its growth in private management and asset management in the next few years, a statement from the firm says.
For the year 2009 as a whole, net sales of funds of funds in the UK totalled GBP3.9bn, a result which is four times higher than in the previous year, and which represents an all-time record, according to the most recent statistics from the British asset management association (IMA). Assets under management in funds of funds totalled GBP42.7bn, a 42% increase year on year, higher than the pace for funds under management overall (33%). Funds of funds represent 8.9% of all funds under management by volume, double the percentage they accounted for ten years ago (4.2%, with assets of GBP10.6bn). The IMA reports that a growing number of funds of funds invest part of their capital in funds from other firms. Last year, the percentage of funds invested by funds of funds in products from external providers was 56%, compared with 21% ten years earlier. Index-linked funds, for their part, attracted a net total of GBP313m, the highest level since 2003. Assets in these funds increased 48% to GBP27.7bn. Of the 73 index-linked funds on record, 42 products replicate the major British indices, most usually the FTSE All-Share or the FTSE 100. The IMA also reports that net sales of ethical funds increased by only 1% last year, to GBP155m. This is actually a net decline from 2007, largely due to outflows totalling GBP14m in second quarter 2009, though inflows bounced back in fourth quarter 2009. Assets under management in ethical funds were up 26% to GBP5.6bn as of the end of 2009. The number of funds in this category came to 54 last year, slightly below their number the previous year (56).
M&G has appointed Micaela Forelli as retail director of global banks relationship management. Based in London and reporting to Jonathan Willcocks, M&G retail managing director global sales, she will be responsible for developing senior-level relationships with global banks. Micaela joins M&G from Fidelity International in Milan, where she spent two years first as director of key accounts and then as wholesale sales director. Prior to joining Fidelity, Micaela was a member of M&G’s Italian sales team.
The Hedge Fund Standards Board (HFSB) is expanding the role played by investors on its board by adding representatives from two of the biggest international investors in hedge funds, New Holland Capital and the Future Fund, Australia. The HFSB has also signed up two more of the leading London-based hedge fund managers, BlueCrest Capital Management LLP and Winton Capital Management Ltd. Both will become members of the HFSB Founders’ Council, the core group of managers and investors who launched the project and provide regular advice to the Board. Virtually all of the largest hedge fund managers in London have now become signatories to the Standards and are therefore committed to applying them. The HFSB has been set up to monitor conformity to the hedge fund best practice standards.
The Labour Pension Fund (LFP), one of the largest pension funds in Taiwan, which managed to preserve its assets during the crisis (nearly USD30bn), is seeking a consultant to help it determine a new investment policy. The announcement surprised the local financial community, since in the past year, the fund has had a heavyweight consultant, Mercer, on its side, and already unveiled its long-term allocation plan in March 2009, after eight months of research. LFP states that this project is now out of date, and that a new consultant must be sought for this year. LFP will soon publish its results for 2009. As of the end of November, the asset pool known as “the Old System,” including defined-benefit assets totalling about USD15.6bn as of the end of 2009, was 42.27% invested in cash, of which 5% was in commercial paper, and nearly 12% in local bonds. The “New System,” which includes defined-contribution assets, was nearly 32% invested in cash, and nearly 13% invested in local bonds. In 2008, the New System posted returns of 11.84%, while the Old System earned 13.40%.
Deutsche Bank now has 19 ETF products listed in Singapore, following the admission to trading of three funds which are already available in Frankfurt, London and Milan. The Singapore stock exchange (SGX) announces that the db x-trackers products replicate the iBoxx $ Treasuries TR, USD IG Inflation-linked Treasuries and Equities MSCI USA TRN indices. There are also plans to list the db x-trackers iBoxx € Sovereign Eurozone TR fund in Singapore.
There are now more than 200 hedge funds which have adopted a format compliant with the UCITS III directive, in an effort to meet the demands of institutional investors, Hedge Fund Research (HFR) reports, adding that the number of funds in this category has risen sharply in the past 18-24 months. Assets in these funds now total over USD35bn. The attraction of this formula is that it allows funds to be made available not only to European clients but also to investors worldwide.
Selon le Financial Times, HSBC négocie le transfert de Chris Meares, le responsable mondial de sa banque privée, de Londres à Hong Kong. Cela permettrait à la banque de mieux capturer la croissance de la richesse en Asie. Douglas Wurth, le responsable du pôle international de banque privée de JPMorgan, a de son côté quitté New York pour s’installer à Hong Kong cette semaine.
Pour réduire ses coûts, le Santander va liquider sa filiale de courtage Santander Investment Bolsa. Il en a déjà absorbé les activités, rapporte Cotizalia. Selon ce site, l’opération a tardé à cause de problèmes technologiques, alors que le BBVA et la Deutsche Bank l’ont déjà réussie.
La société luxembourgeoise spécialisée dans les métiers de l’administration de fonds EFA a annoncé le 11 février le recrutement de Frédéric Bilas au poste de futur directeur du métier Operations VNI (valeurs nettes d’inventaire). Après une période de transition de six mois, il remplacera Jean Paul Thomas le 1er Juillet 2010, date de départ à la retraite de celui-ci. Frédéric Bilas assumera alors la fonction de Directeur du Métier Operations VNI et de membre du Comité de Direction.Frédéric Bilas était précédemment chez Dexia BIL où il a été «head of Securities» jusqu'à fin 2009.
Jeudi, le gestionnaire de fonds fermés HCI Capital est parvenu avec l’ensemble de ses banques créancières à un accord de restructuration suivant les grandes lignes de celui qui avait été trouvé en août 2009 avec les deux chefs de file du consortium, HSH Nordbank et la Commerzbank.Il est prévu d’une part un moratoire jusqu’au 30 septembre 2013, une conversion de 36 millions d’euros de créances en fonds propres et une augmentation de capital en numéraire de 22 millions d’euros, a indiqué Ralf Friedrichs, président du directoire.Au 31 décembre, HCI Capital gérait un portefeuille de 14,8 milliards d’euros, dont 5,9 milliards de fonds propres, pour 122.000 clients investis dans 508 fonds.
La CNMV a donné mercredi son agrément au nouveau fonds garanti Santander Dolar 90 (ES0174974008), un nouveau fonds à garantie partielle et faible risque qui investira en monétaire et en obligataire. Santander Asset Management garantit à échéance (1er mars 2012) une participation de 150 % sur la revalorisation du dollar contre euro entre le 1er mars 2010 et le 17 février 2012, pour autant que cette hausse ne dépasse pas les 30 %. En cas de dévalorisation du billet vert face à la monnaie unique, la perte est limitée à 10 % de la souscription initiale au 1er mars 2010. Il est prévu d’investir 89,77 % de l’encours en obligations d’Etat, obligations d’entreprise et monétaire tandis que les 10,23 % seront placés sur une option OTC liée à l'évolution du dollar contre euro.La souscription minimale initiale est fixée à 30.000 euros et la commission de gestion à 1,1 %. Le Santander a prévu que le droit d’entrée et la pénalité de sortie se situent à 5 %.